As Sebelius testified before the House's Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Wednesday, Lance asked her where Obama gets authority to delay key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Lance, a Republican, represents New Jersey's 7th District.

The president's administration has announced a number of adjustments and delays related to the law, which requires most Americans to obtain health insurance, sets up online exchanges in which individuals can purchase insurance and provides subsidies to help some people afford it.

Over the summer, the administration said it wouldn't enforce a requirement that businesses with at least 50 employees provide health coverage until 2015. The law, as written, puts that requirement into effect Jan. 1, 2014. More recently, it said small businesses won't be able to buy health insurance via HealthCare.gov, the troubled online exchange operated by the federal government, until next year. It also gave individuals extra time to sign up for plans that begin Jan. 1, 2014.

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Sebelius told Lance that the president's authority to delay aspects of the plan comes from the administration's role as an enforcement authority — saying it can decline to enforce the penalties.

"I respectfully disagree with that," Lance told her in response.

The Affordable Care Act, as written, only provides subsidies for people signing up on state-run exchanges. New Jersey is one of several states that declined to run their own exchanges, and instead directs people to the federally run Healthcare.gov, which was plagued by substantial technical problems that left many people unable to buy insurance in its first several weeks. More recent reports suggest the site has improved, but is still far from problem-free.

The law doesn't provide for subsidies — seen as key to making the required health care insurance purchase affordable for many people — via the federal exchange. The administration has instead directed Internal Revenue Service to extend subsidies to that exchange, a move being challenged in court.

"It is my legal position that the courts will rule against the president in this regard," Lance told Sebelius during the hearing.

He also questioned whether Obama has ever proposed a legislative change to the Affordable Care Act. Sebelius answered that the administration has suggested policy changes through its budgets, but said she could not recollect any specific legislation to make changes.

In a liveblog of the hearing — in which several committee members questioned Sebelius about the ACA — TheGuardian.com's Tom McCarthy wrote "Rep. Leonard Lance, Republican of New Jersey, shows himself a gentlemen with a courteous factually oriented Q&A with Sebelius."

Prior to the hearing, Sebelius announced new inquiry into the development of Healthcare.gov.

A background memo from the committee said it would try to get information about problems with the exchange, about regulations that prompted insurers to drop many people's existing plans, and about higher healthcare costs for some customers.

"Since the Oct. 1 start of open enrollment, major media outlets have described the
launch of (the act's) exchange program as 'plagued by problems' and 'nothing short of
disastrous.' The launch of the exchanges has been fraught with significant problems that are leading to major delays for Americans attempting to shop for health coverage," the committee wrote in the memo.

Sebelius, in a blog post, said the launch of Healthcare.gov " was flawed and simply unacceptable."

In addition to asking HHS Inspector General Dan Levinson to review the site's development, she said HHS would create a new "chief risk officer" and expand employee training on best practices to better manage projects undertaken through contractors.

"We must take steps to ensure that our contractors are well managed, and that they fulfill their commitments and provide good services and products for our tax dollars," she wrote.